Supreme Court of the United States, 1949

The Court reversed the lower courts, holding that Secret Service Agent Greene’s participation in the state officers’ search made it a federal search under the Byars doctrine, so the seized evidence must be suppressed.

The Court affirmed Brinegar’s conviction, holding that the officers had probable cause before stopping his automobile and that the warrantless search was valid under Carroll. The officer’s recent personal observations of Brinegar’s liquor-running activities, identification of Brinegar and his automobile, and knowledge…

Chief Justice Vinson's opinion held that sovereign immunity barred the requested injunction against the War Assets Administrator because the challenged conduct was within his delegated authority and was not alleged to be unconstitutional.

The Court, in an opinion by Justice Frankfurter, held that protection against arbitrary police intrusion is enforceable against the States through the Fourteenth Amendment, but that due process does not require state courts to exclude evidence obtained through unreasonable searches and seizures.

The Court reversed the lower courts and held that the evidence seized was inadmissible because Secret Service Agent Greene participated in the search before it was completed, making the search a federal one under the Byars doctrine.

The Court, through Justice Jackson, affirmed the Court of Appeals, holding that New Jersey’s statute imposing liability for defense expenses and requiring security from certain derivative-action plaintiffs is constitutional and applies in federal diversity litigation.

The Court held that servicemen may recover under the Federal Tort Claims Act for injuries not incident to military service. Neither the Act nor veterans’ benefits legislation makes benefits an exclusive remedy or requires an election of remedies.

The Court reversed Terminiello's disorderly-conduct conviction because the ordinance, as construed in the jury instructions, permitted punishment of speech merely for stirring anger, inviting dispute, or producing unrest.

The Court reinstated the District Court's judgment concerning the Jones patent. It upheld the validity and infringement findings for four flux claims, agreed that other flux and process claims were invalid, and accepted the finding that the patent had not been misused.

The Court affirmed the convictions, holding that New York City could prohibit third-party advertising on vehicles as a traffic regulation without violating due process, equal protection, or the Commerce Clause.

The Supreme Court reversed the Sixth Circuit, holding that the charitable deduction claimed by the estate’s executors was not allowable because the charitable interest was not presently ascertainable due to the trustees’ unfettered discretion to invade the corpus for the testator’s mother.

The Court held that the estate could not deduct the charitable remainder from the taxable estate because the trustees had unrestricted discretion to invade or consume the corpus for the mother’s pleasure, comfort, and welfare.